Richard Justice: Brees finds his calling with Saints

A Saint's missionDrew Brees realizes how uplifting his team’s success is to the city of New Orleans, and he’s doing more than his part on and off the field

RICHARD JUSTICE, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Friday, February 5, 2010

Photo: Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

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Drew Brees led in touchdown passes the last two seasons and has been in the top three in passer rating the last three years.

Drew Brees led in touchdown passes the last two seasons and has been in the top three in passer rating the last three years.

Photo: Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

Richard Justice: Brees finds his calling with Saints

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MIAMI — His career has become his calling. Could there be anything better?

“I believe wholeheartedly the fact that everything happens for a reason,” Drew Brees said. “At times, God is going to put you in a position to wonder why this is happening to me or to us, and yet you know it’s happening for a reason. It’s there to make you stronger and to give the opportunity to accomplish something later on — and here we are.”

Four years ago, he had other plans. He preferred to remain with the San Diego Chargers. When it became clear they no longer wanted him, he got a hard sell from the Miami Dolphins.

Only the Dolphins may have had some worries about his surgically repaired shoulder. The Saints and their new coach, Sean Payton, never stopped selling him on the idea of making his fresh start with the Saints.

So many things have happened since then. A city has begun to rebuild, and its football team came to represent the city and to give citizens something happy to occupy their mind, if only for a few minutes a day.

When the Superdome reopened in 2006, it seemed to be as close to a spiritual experience as a football game can be. And along the way, Drew Brees didn’t just play at a high level.

He rolled up his sleeves and went into the community, giving both his time and his money. He wasn’t alone. Reggie Bush paid for schools and high school football fields. Others showed that the Saints were about more than just football.

‘Where I belonged’

And New Orleans responded with passion and pride as the Saints rolled to their first NFC Championship Game three years ago. And now the Super Bowl.

“It’s a great source of strength for us and our team, just knowing that we are playing for much more than another W or a Super Bowl for our organization,” Brees said. “This is where I belonged, not only to help rebuild that organization and get it back on the right track but also to help rebuild a community and a region and to do something special.”

He’s the first Texas-born quarterback in the Super Bowl, a graduate of Austin Westlake and the grandson of legendary Texas high school coach Ray Akins. He‘s the nephew of former University of Texas star Marty Akins.

Now he’s identified with the city he’s helping rebuild. His 2006 recruiting visit to New Orleans took a strange turn when Payton got lost during a tour of the city and ended up showing Brees parts of New Orleans hit hardest by Katrina.

Brees and his wife, Brittany, went home, prayed and decided Katrina’s devastation had given their life a larger mission.

“I feel like I’ve been given a platform to really make a difference in a lot of people’s lives, especially those who are less fortunate and those who might not have the opportunities otherwise,” he said. “I’ve embraced the community of New Orleans just because it is a special place, and they’ve embraced me and my wife in a way that I can’t even describe. I do believe everything happens for a reason.”

Looking back on it now, he didn’t know if he was still capable of playing at a high level after surgery to repair his right shoulder. Some in the NFL were skeptical that Brees would ever be productive. Why had the Chargers decided to make Philip Rivers their starter?

“God puts you in a position for a reason, and it goes way beyond football,” he said. “I think the people around the country understand how much it means to that community and what they’ve been through. Our success as a team over the last four years has been tremendous just in regards to giving so many of the members of that community hope and lifting their spirits. There is still a lot of work to be done there in regards to the rebuilding and the recovery post-Katrina. There are still a lot of people in some pretty dire straits. There’s a bond that we have with our fans — between our organization and our fans — that’s truly special.”

This story wouldn’t be nearly as heartwarming if the Saints hadn’t been transformed on the field. This is the franchise that didn’t have a winning season until its 21st year of existence. Since 2006, they’ve won three playoff games, which is two more than they won in their first 39 seasons.

Ultimate triggerman

General manager Mickey Loomis has surrounded Brees with an array of offensive weapons, but it’s Brees who has made it work. He led the NFL in touchdown passes the last two seasons and has been in the top three in passer rating the last three years.

“We know we’re lucky to get to play with one of the great quarterbacks of all-time,” Bush said.

Still, it seems about more than football. It feels like a cause. As the Saints have won, New Orleans has gotten back on its feet a day at a time. Has sport and real life ever intersected like this before?

“I have met season-ticket holders since New Orleans started in 1967,” Brees said. “For so many of them, just to have waited so long through so many tough times to this point, and what people went through in New Orleans post-Katrina, it’s so much more than just a game to us. It’s a feeling that we have an opportunity to give them so much hope, lift their spirits and give them something they deserve.”